


Her Declaration

by dreamsandlove



Series: Frenchie/Kimiko [4]
Category: The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: 02X07, Coda, Communication, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Growth, Hope, Language, S2Ep7, Sign Language, Sweetness, Trust, connection, for this lovely couple, learning, regardless of canon, though I am hopeful for more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:46:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26773123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsandlove/pseuds/dreamsandlove
Summary: Fortune favors the bold, no? Frenchie presses his luck with Kimiko.
Relationships: Kimiko/Frenchie, The Female | Kimiko Miyashiro & The Frenchman, The Female | Kimiko Miyashiro/The Frenchman, The Female | Kimiko Moyashiro/The Frenchman, The Female | Kimiko/Frenchie
Series: Frenchie/Kimiko [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931500
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	Her Declaration

**Author's Note:**

> I love what canon gave us in 02x07, regarding the communication between Frenchie (Serge!!) and Kimiko. Here's a bit more of them exploring and learning language together. 💕
> 
> Not betaed. All mistake are my own. Please forgive any insults to both the English and the French languages. Lol. I might not be kidding. 😬😘
> 
>  ******EDIT:** I caught some of the typos and edited a bit. Consider this (and most of my fics) a WIP. *shrugs* Hopefully I’ll get them mostly scrubbed up at some point. 🤞
> 
> I hope you enjoy it. 💗

They return from their recognizance mission and are back at the safe house, where it's Frenchie’s job to protect Kimiko. She’s sitting on the couch watching TV and he’s at the kitchen table, just about to execute a very important plan. 

Grinning to himself, he still can’t get over how she’d surprised him when they were on the roof earlier that day. With only a casual request to learn _her_ language, she’d acquiesced, offering up an inkling of hope by sharing the sign for ‘gun’. He’d practiced the hand motion and she’d seemed pleased by that. 

Immediately he wanted to know more, but knew the timing wasn’t right. 

But now, back inside, Frenchie thinks he’s ready. 

The English and Japanese alphabets (one note card for each letter) are laid out on the small kitchen table and there’s a translation app on the tablet. He has pictures of various universal items and his partial knowledge of ASL. [Of course Frenchie is aware that other countries use their own sign language, but he chooses ASL because it’s the one he’s most familiar with and most useful to them in the US.] 

Fluent in a few languages (passable in several others), he hates not communicating more effectively with Kimiko. 

  
  


But there’s a plan, he’s going to ask her, _again_ , but this time with supplies in hand. She already gave him a little information on the roof, why not press his luck? What’s that saying? 

_La fortune sourit aux audaciex [Fortune favors the bold]?_

Frenchie surely fucking hopes so. With determination, he clears his throat. 

“Kimiko. Will you teach me _your_ sign language? S’il vous plait [Please]?”

Hoping he sounds more confident than desperate, he tries not to fidget as she makes her decision. 

Without confirming or rejecting his request, she silently gets up from the couch, sits on the other side of the table and blinks at him. 

_I’ll take it!_

That’s all the encouragement he needs, as he proceeds to set everything up. 

Sitting across from her, they start with a picture of a chair. Frenchie pronounces the word in English, and uses the translation app on his laptop for the Japanese word (he’s aware these programs are often flawed and not the best way to learn/communicate a language, but it might be close enough to get the point across). 

Her eyes widen. 

“Yes? You understand.” 

  
Pointing to her hands. 

  
“Now show me how you would tell me ‘chair’.”

  
Waiting, he knows the only other person she’s used _her_ sign language with was her brother...now gone. The process is likely painful, at best bittersweet, to be able to communicate, but not converse with her loved one. 

His heart aches for her loss. His patience infinite when it comes to her. 

Slowly, she lifts her hands and does a quick movement. 

“Slower please, mon coeur, so I can see it more clearly.” 

He’s focused on her slim fingers and delicate hand movements. 

“Okay, now I’m going to sit next to you to see what it looks like from your side, okay? No touching; I’m just trying to learn correctly.” 

She nods and Frenchie lets loose a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

Abandoning his seat he moves next to her. Their eyes lock for a moment, and all he can do is grin. Those dark orbs nearly transfix him, and he’s not at all mad about it. 

_She’s teaching me! She’s trusting me. I’ll make sure she never regrets this._

They both turn forward, parallel to one another, as she repeats the gesture. With his hands, he mimics the movement. They practice a couple more times. 

“I think I’ve got it.” 

Moving back to his original spot he signs _her_ word for ‘chair‘ and she smiles. 

“Oui! Gah! I knew we could figure this out!”

He feels giddy.

Picking up the original picture he continues.

“I’m going to show you another sign for ‘chair’. You don’t have to use it, I just thought it might be nice to have another choice. It’s American Sign Language, so it should be fairly easy since I think you understand English well.”

It’s said as a statement, but the question is implied. 

She nods and he proceeds. 

After repeating _her_ sign language, he introduces the ASL translation. She watches his hands perceptively, dark eyes, glinting. 

“Do you want me to come and show you, how you showed me?”

She shakes her head and perfectly signs the word to him. 

He laughs with joy.

“Of course! So smart, my fierce warrior.” 

She smiles brightly. 

“Keep going?” She nods. 

They go on like that for hours. Both of them teaching and learning, working together. He hopes they can create some sort of hybrid sign language. One they share that will be unique to them. Not too painful for Kimiko, because she’s not repeating the exact same movements she did with only her brother. And not a totally new language for either of them to commit to memory (though he’d learn every language on the planet for her). 

Wrapping things up, both of them yawn with fatigue. 

Pretending to be busy by picking up and organizing the materials on the table, not looking at her, Frenchie takes a bit of a risk. 

“Kimiko, I want to review the words we did today. I will use the pictures, say the word in English, do _your_ sign and the ASL sign...and…” rubbing the back of his neck with a slightly sweaty hand, “and in French. Just, just so you know a few words, okay?” 

Silence.

He looks up and what he sees is something that takes his breath away. Her face is completely open, eyes soft, smile beaming, she is radiate. He’s taken aback, he has no right to observe such beauty. But there she is. 

A little nervous, he grins back.

“Oui? Yes?”

She nods and he’s pretty sure she can hear his heart beating wildly in his chest. He’s brimming with happiness, pure and simple.

Pointing to the chair, he says the English word, uses both sign language gestures and says, “Chaise.” 

Her smile widens, the joy reaching her eyes, and Frenchie blushes. Without any clear communication, he knows he’s done well. Her approval, her acceptance, her praise makes him feel like the luckiest person alive. 

Repeating each word they’ve practiced today, she continues to be the happiest/most satisfied (maybe even entertained?) when he speaks French. 

The sun is heavy in the sky, dusk coming upon them quickly, throwing shadows across the dingy wall and making the small space even more miserable... 

What he wouldn’t give to have her in one of his other, _better_ , cleaner safe houses. To protect her properly. Space for her to explore, be in the sunlight, to just be. 

“Merci pour aujourd’hui, Kimiko [Thank you for a today, Kimiko].” 

Without missing a beat she signs back to him, using both _her_ sign and the ASL sign. 

_“Welcome.”_

They’re grinning at one another, her dark eyes consuming him. He could fall into her, get lost forever and he wouldn’t mind a minute of it. The slight creases on her face tell him more than any words could. She is truly exceptional, and he feels wholly honored to witness the sight. 

_I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to keep that look on her face._

They’re both tidying up the table as thoughts tumble through his mind. 

_Mon coeur [My heart]. Mon guerriere [My warrior]._

_Beaute sauvage [Wild beauty]._

_Tu es brillant [You are brilliant]._

_Mon amour [My love]. Je suis a vous [I am yours]._

She stops suddenly and he looks up at her. He can’t read the expression on Kimiko’s face and it worries him a bit. About to ask her if anything is wrong, she very purposely moves her hands. 

All he can do is blink in astonishment as she repeats the one word using both signs. A small smile-smirk is on her lips when she leaves the table. He’s dumbstruck as Kimiko disappears behind the bathroom door. 

His brain is whirring, consumed. Shaking his head in shock, Frenchie is sure mindreading isn’t one of her super powers. So what just happened?!

_How could she know what I was thinking?!_

All of sudden Frenchie realizes he must’ve spoken the words aloud! 

_Sh-she understood me?! Merde [Fuck]!_

Body sheened with sweat, as his heart thunders and mind races. Hands trembling, he tries to finish cleaning up their learning materials. Frenchie isn't sure anything else could leave him as gobsmacked, as stunned, as what she’d just ‘said’ in response to his accidental confession. 

Astonished...proud...overwhelmed...he’s filled with a sense of connection. A warmth that denotes home, peace, a place of safety and rest. Previously a concept so foreign to him, but now, _maybe_ , a possibility? 

_My god._

The single precious word she signed plays on a loop in his brain. Watching her deliberate hand gestures had been both exquisitely beautiful and simultaneously painful...and _oh so_ welcome. 

Frenchie will never forget the power of this moment, of what she’d made clear to him. Signing the word twice, no mistake, no other way to interpret her meaning.   
  


Her declaration. 

_“Mine.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 💗 
> 
> Please feel free to leave feedback or make a request/suggestion. 😊


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